Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has failed to rescue Newcastle winger Achraf Lazaar from his nightmare loan in Italy.

The 26-year-old is on loan at Serie A strugglers Benevento, but they have controversially omitted him from their squad for the second half of the season. Lazaar's dreams of playing for Morocco at the World Cup in Russia this summer are now in jeopardy.

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Bacary Sagna signed for Benevento in earlier this month, which meant that he took the final place in their squad, at the expense of Lazaar.

Having already played for Newcastle and Benevento this season, FIFA rules state that Lazaar is not allowed to play for another club until the start of the 2018/19 season.

Benevento have the chance to sign Lazaar on a permanent deal for £3m this summer, but having excluded him from their squad for the remainder of this campaign, it looks likely that they will turn down that opportunity.

Benevento have signed Bacary Sagna recently as a free agent but it has left #NUFC left-back Achraf Lazaar out of the squad list & his future remains unclear after making 9 appearances this season, injuries preventing the Moroccan making many more. pic.twitter.com/Vvvl57hpTO